


Five times Claire Dearing looked at Zara Young and one time she didn't

by maybe_she_is



Category: Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Claire POV, F/F, F/M, Follows Canon mostly, POV Third Person, clara - Freeform, mentions of owen/claire, we explore other things too, zara/claire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-20 09:10:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4781789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybe_she_is/pseuds/maybe_she_is
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She is relieved beyond belief when they tell her she's getting an assistant- her job is altogether too stressful to handle on her own. But because she's Claire Dearing, she insists that no, she doesn't need an assistant, she's got this, everything is under control.</p><p>(She's lying through her teeth and they all know it, but its Claire Dearing, so they pretend not to notice.)</p><p>So she wakes one morning to find a very attractive dark haired woman perched on the edge of her bed, tapping away at her phone like her life depends on it- and who is Claire to know, maybe it does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five times Claire Dearing looked at Zara Young and one time she didn't

  
**ONE**  
She is relieved beyond belief when they tell her she's getting an assistant- her job is altogether too stressful to handle on her own. But because she's _Claire Dearing_ , she insists that no, she doesn't need an assistant, she's got this, everything is under control.  
  
(She's lying through her teeth and they all know it, but its _Claire Dearing_ , so they pretend not to notice.)  
  
So she wakes one morning to find a very attractive dark haired woman perched on the edge of her bed, tapping away at her phone like her life depends on it- and who is Claire to know, maybe it does.  
  
"Hello?" Claire says, and her tone makes it clear she means _who the hell are you_ _and what the hell are you doing in my bedroom_?  
  
The woman startles and looks up, still tapping furiously away on her phone.  
  
"Good morning, Ms Dearing, my name is Zara Young and I'm your new personal assistant," she informs Claire, answering both of her unspoken questions.  
  
"What are you doing in here, Ms Young?" Claire asks, pulling herself up into a more businesslike position leaning against the headboard.  
  
"Mr Masrani sent me to wait till you woke up, introduce myself and let you know you're needed in the lab as soon as possible. Apparently there's a sponsor war going on."  
  
Claire nodded slowly, her eyes catching on the curve of Zara's neck.  
  
"-and Ms Dearing, please just call me Zara."  
  
**TWO**  
The raptor guy- Owen-makes her smile, makes her laugh. And that's what's important, she thinks, so when he asks her out, Claire says yes.  
  
(Well, she says she'll think about it, then texts him yes later, because she's _Claire Dearing_.)  
  
She plans the whole date, because she's _Claire Dearing_ , and her plan falls apart when he shows up in smelly board shorts and orders tequila.  
  
He doesn't make her laugh that night.  
  
But Zara does, when she finds her crying in her room.  
  
(She's not crying, because she's _Claire Dearing_ and Claire Dearing doesn't cry. But _if she was_ crying it would _not_ be for Owen, but for herself and the fact that she now has one less reason to smile.)  
  
And Zara silently offers her a tissue, putting her phone and talk of investors away.  
  
Claire wipes her eyes and tries to assure Zara she's fine, but Zara is not an idiot and Claire loves her for it.  
  
"Didn't go well, huh?"  
  
"I've had worse dates," Claire sniffles, "but that's probably not something I should advertise."  
  
Zara laughs liltingly and Claire watches the way her shoulders quiver.  
  
"Ms Dearing, if you don't mind me saying, he doesn't deserve you,” Zara says quietly, as if saying it quietly means it’s a lesser breach of their business relationship.

Claire pretends she doesn’t hear her as she reapplies her makeup and prepares to return to the demanding work of an employee of Jurassic World, because she’s _Claire Dearing_ and she doesn’t need reassurance or comforting.   


**THREE**  
  
The lab has been working toward genetically engineered hybrids for a while, Claire knows, but despite being second in command -essentially first, considering Mr Masrani’s complete incompetence- at a park filled with animals supposed to be extinct millions of years ago, it had gone on her ‘that's impossible’ list.  
  
But apparently it’s more than possible, it was a certainty. They'd done it.  
  
It- the Indominous- is terrifying. Only a young thing, yet it’s already devoured its sibling and grown in size to compensate. Claire doesn’t like to think of it as a ‘her’. That makes it something with feelings, and things with feelings can’t be controlled. It is nothing more than a new toy for the population to marvel at, one that she does not care to play with.

Claire stays away from it.

One day though, she can’t find Zara. At first she thinks maybe Zara is running late, but this is _Zara Young_ , so of course she’s not.

She finds her pressed against the glass of the Indominus’ enclosure, closer than Claire herself can stand without shaking in her heels.

“Zara?”

Zara doesn’t move an inch, but speaks softly, “Hello, Ms Dearing. I’m sorry I’m late, I just wanted to see her.”

“See her?” Claire asks in surprise.

“She’s right over there, see?” says Zara, pointing.

The Indominus is staring at her from the trees, and when Zara reaches her hand up to rest on the glass, it moves forward to meet her.

Claire gasps, and Zara whirls around in surprise, and the Indominus opens in maw and roars.

Its only little, the people in the lab have told her, it’ll grow to be much larger, but already it’s taller than Claire herself.

“It’s alright, Ms Dearing,” Zara murmurs from the corner of her lips, “If you don’t move much, neither will she.”

Claire looks at Zara with newfound respect, for Zara Young is a whole new kind of brave.

“How can you stand it?” Claire asks her, voice trembling slightly, not moving from where she stands in the doorway, “I’m dreading the day I have to show Mr Masrani, he likes to get very up close and personal with the attractions.”

“Come here, Ms Dearing,” Zara dictates, but her lilting voice makes it sound like a request, “Slowly, though.”

And so, because Claire trusts her, she does, ever so slowly. The Indominus watches her closely, eyes narrowing.

Zara takes her hand when she’s within reach– this is definitely a breach of their business relationship- and raises it slowly until it rests on the glass.

“Breathe, Claire.”

And Claire does, in and out and in again.

 

**FOUR**

They are right up close to the glass of the enclosure, as they are every morning, because Zara insists that Claire face her demons, or in this case, her genetically modified dinosaurs.

Claire still doesn’t like it, still refuses to think of the Indominus as more than an ‘it’. But she can stand right up against the glass, face to face with the damn thing and not shake one bit, so she thinks she’s made progress.

(Of course, she’s only even remotely okay with this because the thing is behind some damn strong glass.)

Claire exhales slowly, turning to Zara.

“Are we done for the day?”

“The day’s barely started,” Zara answers with a smirk.

“You know what I mean, Zara,” Claire chastises her and tries to pretend that smirk isn’t doing things to her.

“Yes, Claire, we’re done for the day.”

“Good. Oh, Zara, just while I remember, my nephews are coming sometime next week, I may need you to watch them for a bit.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not in my job description, Claire-,” Zara begins.

“-your job is to assist me,” Claire points out, resisting the urge to add a ‘ _personally’_ , because it’s not proper, and she doesn’t want to make Zara uncomfortable.

Zara looks at her in fond exasperation.

“Anything to assist,” she concedes.

 

**FIVE**

Claire wakes to find Zara sitting next to her in bed, tapping away at her phone.

“Zara?” Claire asks sleepily, confused.

This is not the first time she has woken up to find Zara there (she tried to tell her to just wake her up, but Zara insists on letting her sleep), but it is the first time she’s been so _close_.

Claire likes it. She likes _Zara_. She thinks maybe Zara might like her too, but she’s a sucker for a slow burn, so she keeps quiet. Of course, there’s also the issue of Zara’s fiancé, Alex. But Claire thinks that if Alex were really an issue then Zara wouldn’t look at her the way she does when she thinks Claire isn’t watching.

“Claire,” Zara smiles warmly, her eyes gliding over Claire’s body, hunched under the blankets of her bed, “You’re late for your meeting in the lab.”

Claire shrieks, and jumps out of bed.

“Zara, I’ve told you to wake me up!” she yells from the bathroom.

“For someone who stresses as much as you do, sleep is very important,” Zara says, “You’re the priority, Claire. You have to take care of yourself.”

Claire thinks Zara senses she’s gotten too close and doesn’t know what to do, so she follows it up with a joke, “Besides, while I’m asleep, you don’t have to work.”

“Oh, Claire, if only that were true, I’d never let you leave this bed,” Zara sighs, before gasping and apologising profusely.

“It’s quite alright, Zara,” Claire assures her, exiting the bathroom in the outfit Zara had helped her chose the previous night – “it’s perfect, Claire, don’t worry, you’ll be fine”.

“You’d better go to the big meeting,” Zara ushers her out the door, with a spray of perfume, “I’ll fetch Zach and Grey from the docks and we’ll catch up with you later.”

“Zara, what would I do without you?”

Claire truly doesn’t know anymore.

“About that,” Zara bites her lip, frowning, “I’ve got to talk to you later.”

Claire’s heart plummets, “You’re not quitting, are you?”

“No, no, of course not, Claire. We’ll talk about it later, alright?”

And with a kiss on the cheek –“for luck”- , Zara is gone.

 

**-ONE**

“We’d better stick together,” Owen had said to her afterwards, right before he kissed her.

Right before the government realised she was in charge of Jurassic World after Masrani’s unfortunate demise, and locked her up.

Owen wasn’t with her now.

That was alright though. It wasn’t Owen she really wanted with her. He made her laugh, but he was rude, and arrogant and he smelt, and Zara had never liked him.

She let Owen kiss her because she thought maybe she could forget that Zara was dead; maybe he could love her in the way Zara now never could.

But no.

Zara’s words haunt Claire’s days – _we’ll talk about it later, alright?_ \- but Zara’s touch haunts her nights. The comforting pat on the shoulder, the gentle guiding of her hand to the glass, the warm hug after months and months, that one last kiss on the cheek and a sensational amount of eye fucking, which turns to actual fucking in Claire’s dreams.

 _Zara is dead_ becomes her mantra upon awakening.

She hates it, hates everything.

And as it always is with these things, now that Zara’s gone Claire realises exactly how valuable her personal assistant was to her- _personally_.

_We’ll talk about it later, alright?_

Claire would never know what Zara had wanted to talk about. In her heart she knew what she wanted it to be, but her head made her see sense.

Now that it’s all over and Claire spends her days in misery and an orange jumpsuit, she wishes she’d looked at Zara more often.

**Author's Note:**

> so I was really upset by Zara's death because I somehow ended up really attached to her. When I first watched the film I shipped Owen/Claire, but after more consideration, I'm #Zearing/#Clara as hell. 
> 
> Also please be kind because I don't often write fanfiction. Constructive criticism is welcome.


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